Should you reduce your property in the New Year if you’ve had no interest over Christmas?
Do you have your property on the market? Are you concerned with the interest you have received from buyers over the festive period? The New Year could be the perfect time to consider a reduction - read this article to find out why.
The property market is not considered particularly seasonal anymore. However, there are key moments throughout the calendar where there is a clear drop in activity, followed by a dramatic rise. The Christmas period, perhaps predictably, slows down. Buyers opt for shopping for gifts rather than a new home, and many homeowners put a hold on viewing appointments to give themselves a peaceful family Christmas. And with this rest, the New Year comes in with a bang. Reportedly beginning on Boxing Day, buyers return to the property portal websites and scour the estate agents' listings for their new dream home.
Most of us who are planning a move in 2024 will have undoubtedly used that lull between Christmas and New Year to start making plans, and inevitably, their attention, between watching re-runs of Die Hard or Elf for the hundredth time with the children, will be drawn towards those property listings.
New Year is a busy time for the property market as buyers and sellers alike review their plans for the year ahead and carve out the time (now that the festivities of Christmas are over) to put these plans into action. Viewing figures often rise, and the number of agreed sales increases.
So, if your property is on the market over Christmas, whilst you might not be overrun with buyers during the break, you most certainly will be getting more interest from these tentative new searchers. Ideally, this results in viewing requests to kick start the New Year.
But what if you have your property on the market now and are not filling your January diary with new viewing appointments? What if the New Year rush has been a bit flat and uninspiring for you?
If your property has been on the market for a few months, and the process feels a little stale, the new year could be the perfect time to boost the marketing with a price reduction. It can result in a refreshing boost to the interest, timed perfectly when the market wakes up. Could this be the key to getting those offers and selling your property in 2024?
There is no longer a stigma attached to reducing the price of your property. It used to be seen that sellers were desperate for a sale, often leading to very low offers from prospective cheeky buyers looking for a bargain. But now, According to Rightmove, more than 36% of properties on the market have had their asking price reduced at least once, compared with the pre-pandemic average of 31.2%, as sellers tried to attract offers. (Statistics taken from the Guardian online - Sept 2023).
With so many properties choosing to reduce their prices, no stigma can be attached to adjusting the figures to attract buyers. And buyers don't seem to behave in the same way that they used to. They will no longer be persuaded to buy a property because it's 'cheap'; instead, they will choose a property they want to buy. The reduction is no longer a big red discount sticker. Instead, it is an adjustment to showcase the property to a new audience of buyers searching within a different price bracket.
So, if your property marketing has felt a little flat lately and you have not experienced a Boxing Day Bounce Back with viewing appointments coming flying in, perhaps take this busier market as an opportunity and reduce the price to appeal to a broader audience of buyers. It could just be the key to finding that buyer and selling your house.
If you are struggling to sell your property and need some advice, get in touch with our team of highly experienced property professionals who are happy to help.
